During the production of flat assemblies, for example printed circuit boards with plug-in connections, such as plug-in connectors for example, the printed circuit boards are provided with the plug-in connectors and have any other components provided on the printed circuit board soldered to them in a solder bath in separate operations. This requires the plug-in connectors to be connected so firmly to the printed circuit board in the initial process, in other words in the first operation, that they retain their positions even during subsequent work and transport processes.
Generally the plug-in connector insulating units are fastened to the printed circuit board by way of screw or rivet connections in the region of the bearing and fastening flange. This secure and reliable manner of fastening plug-in connectors to printed circuit boards is however problematic, and complex operations are required if the plug-in connections are to be inserted and fastened to a printed circuit board in automatic manufacturing plants.
To this end DE 84 36 267 describes a manner of fastening plug-in connectors and their insulating units respectively to printed circuit boards. Provision is made here for metal journals to be inserted into the lateral flanges of the plug-in connectors. These journals are pressed into corresponding holes in the printed circuit board as the plug-in connector is assembled with the printed circuit board and initially bring about the fastening of the plug-in connector to the printed circuit board here. In a subsequent soldering operation the journals are soldered to the printed circuit board or to the metal surrounding the printed circuit board hole. With this embodiment of the fastening of the plug-in connectors to printed circuit boards it is however necessary for the journal and hole diameters to be matched as closely as possible to one another, so that the required clamping action is achieved in the hole. Also the distance between the printed circuit board holes and the distance between the fastening journals has to be complied with precisely, to allow the two parts to be joined with a close fit.
The growing need to accommodate an increasing number of electrical or electronic components of increasingly small dimensions on printed circuit boards means that there is a further requirement that the plug-in connectors can be used for different housing and/or device widths.
To this end DE 28 33 313 discloses a printed circuit board clamping block, in which the rear support plate serves solely as a mechanical retainer. Such printed circuit board clamping blocks can also have lateral support plates, providing the block with both lateral strength and mechanical retention in respect of the printed circuit board, to which the printed circuit board clamping block is connected.
It is further known with housings for electrical and/or electronic components, when only a single housing frame is used, for the number of connection points to be matched to requirements by using clamping bars as connecting elements, in a graduated arrangement, with connecting pins that can be soldered in. To connect the clamping bars to the actual printed circuit board, which is to be accommodated in the housing and holds the components in question, connecting printed circuit boards are provided. Such housings have no parts that are given a further electrical function in addition to their mechanical supporting and retaining functions.